


eight minutes (forget the world around us)

by bruisedbutlovely



Series: bittersweet words // oneshots [10]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse, Bad Ending, Based off of the new smp with the origin mod, Character Death, Ghost Wilbur Soot, Ghost Wilbur Soot Angst, Ghost Wilbur Soot-Centric, Ghostbur, Hurt No Comfort, Memory Loss, Mutant Powers, Mutation, Niki | Nihachu Needs a Hug, Niki | Nihachu-centric, Non-Canonical Character Death, Not A Fix-It, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Canon, Sad Ending, Tags Are Hard, Wilbur Soot Angst, Wilbur Soot-centric, almost cried fuck, i swear i meant for this to be happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:35:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29366382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bruisedbutlovely/pseuds/bruisedbutlovely
Summary: based off of the streams from 2/11/2020 (origin mod)---The Dream SMP was gone, destroyed.And when that happened, it changed everyone, broke everyone.It gave them powers but at the price of their home and their memories.Wilbur, a ghost, promised to show Niki, a mermaid, whatever she wanted.She wanted to see the Nether but it was never meant for beings like her.
Relationships: Niki | Nihachu & Wilbur Soot
Series: bittersweet words // oneshots [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2160981
Comments: 17
Kudos: 91





	eight minutes (forget the world around us)

**Author's Note:**

> honestly, this is confusing
> 
> just give it a try, i just wanted to write something about the streams. I imagine the streams (in canon) come after the events of the Dream SMP and idk, that's how it works in my weird brain.
> 
> as always, love all of you and take care of yourself!!

A ghost and a mermaid sat on the end of the dock.

“I’ll show you the world,” The ghost promised. “I’ll show you everything, everything you haven’t seen.”

And the mermaid smiled. “I would like that.” 

The world was slowly breaking apart and yet, the ghost and the mermaid sat on the end of the dock, looking towards the future as if they still had one. And maybe, they still believed they did because what else could they do now but hope? 

The world was ending and yet, they still had hope. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The ghost was named Wilbur, a boy who died long before his heartbeat slowed to a stop. However, if asked, he could not tell you how he died for it was a long time ago and his memories were always fuzzy. But, he could tell you of his father, an angel as Wilbur called him, who protected him when the night seemed too dark. He could tell you of his country, a place of freedom when that too was missing. 

If you asked him where his father was or what his country was named, he wouldn’t be able to tell you.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Wilbur looked down at the mermaid who swam in loose circles in the sea before him. He tilted his head, watching her with a soft smile that seemed so out of place in a world like this. The mermaid caught him staring and pushed her head out of water, brushing her pink hair out of her face. 

“What do you want to see?” Wilbur asked, leaning forward as if he was eager to hear what she said. The mermaid simply tilted her head, mouth twitching as she tried to remember what she saw before the world changed forever.

“The Nether,” She said, mispronouncing it the first time. “It was...warm, I remember that. And the forests were pretty; the blue trees were my favorite.” 

The ghost chuckled, letting himself lean back. “You had to choose the one place that a mermaid couldn’t go to.”

  
  
“You said that you would show me the world, Wil,” She swam closer to him, settling next to his legs as they dangled over the docks. “I can see everything else but I can’t see the Nether.”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The mermaid was named Niki and all she could remember was the water that surrounded her. Of course, like Wilbur, she had a life before she was a mermaid but she wouldn’t be able to tell you much about it. She knew she wasn’t always a mermaid and remembered having legs once before. There was also a woman, one that smelled like flowers, and they started a shop together, one that was hard to forget but anything could be forgotten. 

If you asked her what the name of the woman or the shop was, she wouldn’t be able to tell you. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“It’s the opposite of this world,” Niki waved her hand over the ocean as if she was showing it off. “I remember that. I want to see something completely new, Wil.”   
  
“Can I offer you a winter biome?” Wilbur joked, stifling his laughter when she glared playfully at him. “Alright then, the Nether. I can do the Nether.”

The sun slowly rose over the water, welcoming the dawn of a new day but it could barely be seen against all the clouds, against all the darkness that seemed to swallow this world whole. 

The ghost and the mermaid remembered the sun, the feeling of warmth against their skin.

However, that was a long time ago. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Sometimes, you simply just don’t remember. 

Everyone forgot. 

And no matter how tightly you held onto memories, onto places, onto people, sometimes, they would slip away. You would grab for them again but they were out of reach, always out of reach. 

You have to learn to let go.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

They waited for it to rain. 

The world slowly broke around them and yet, they waited on the edge of the dock, waited for droplets to fall from the sky to hit the ground. Who knows how long they sat there, watching the sky never change. 

One day, however, the gray clouds that seemed unmobile started to lighten and soon enough, it started to rain softly. 

Offering his friend a hand, Wilbur helped Niki out of the water, letting her fall against him as she steadied on her human legs. They only smiled at each other. 

Everything seemed okay.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

L’Manburg was a long time ago, you must realize that. 

They are not the same people they were. 

And if you looked at them, you wouldn’t have guessed that insanity plagued both of their minds at one point.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“Fire resistance,” Wilbur gave her a bottle of the orange potion, trying to make sure that it didn’t shatter as his hands flickered in and out of existence. Niki took it quickly, cradling the glass bottle. The ghost handed her another potion. “And air breathing.”

  
  
“Air breathing?” Niki asked but still took the potion. 

“You can’t survive in the Nether because you would drown. So, I made water breathing but opposite,” Wilbur grinned bashfully. “It should work.”

  
  
The rain had yet to slow down and Niki could only smile. 

“How long do the potions last?”

  
  
“Eight minutes.”

And that was long enough.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

No one knew what caused the apocalypse. But everyone says that it was bound to happen.

The people that fought wars together, that fought against each other, that lied and cheated and pretended to care, were separated.

And they changed. They all changed.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

They approached the Nether portal with caution. There was a time that they would have entered with no worries, knowing exactly what was on the other side, but that wasn’t this time. 

Things were different. 

And as they stared through the purple gateway, the duo couldn’t quite remember what the Nether held. 

It was still unknown if the memory loss was permanent or if their memories would come back one day. But slowly, faces and names slipped away until all they could remember was the one that was next to them. 

Across the world, a father didn’t know he had a son.

Across the world, a woman didn’t know she had a wife. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

When they woke, they were scattered around the world. The place they used to call home was simply rubble, ruins and they found new homes, found faces they remembered.

Tubbo and Tommy hid out in a tree house, only knowing each other.

Phil, Ranboo and Techno traveled through a cave, only knowing each other.

Quackity, Karl, and Sapnap lived on a mountain, only knowing each other. 

George and Dream ran through fields, only knowing each other.

Badboyhalo and Skeppy rested in a quartz home, only knowing each other.

Sam and Puffy lied on a beach, only knowing each other. 

Fundy and Eret walked through the forest, only knowing each other. 

Jack Manifold and Purpled built together, only knowing each other. 

The others were scattered, lost among the world they didn’t remember. And they changed just as Niki had, in different ways. Mutations, many of them called it, and as they gained control over their powers, they slowly lost memories. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

They took hands to offer some sort of comfort to the other. 

After all, they were all the other had. 

The potions’ magic swirled around Niki, protecting her from whatever lies before them. Wilbur didn’t exactly know why he knew that these potions would help or how he knew how to make them but it came to him just like many other things did. 

He used to make a lot of potions.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

In the end, it would all be blamed on a glitch, on a small thing that wasn’t noticed until too late. It tore apart their home, tore the friends and the families apart, and as if that wasn’t enough, it forced their DNA to change, to make them become something they were not. 

Some would call it the apocalypse if they remembered that there was a time before the mutations, before the missing memories. 

The glitch slowly broke everything. Why would it not break them?

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The Nether was hot, scalding, burning in a way that no one could forget. 

The ash was hot and dry on their tongues, falling in a way that was like snow but they didn’t remember that. All they remembered was each other. 

Who knows if that was enough. 

The portal led to a lava lake, an ocean that was as big as the one Niki found herself in long ago. She was lying there, at the bottom of the water, and Wilbur was on the sand. 

When they did eventually wake up, they knew each other’s name.

And now, they glanced at each other, sitting down on the cliff before the lava. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

It doesn’t make sense. Then again, did anything? 

Soon, the world would be gone, taken apart by a crack in the soil that slowly grew every day. And everyone knew that it was there, having come across it at least once.

They all knew the world was ending. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

There was only a minute left but they didn’t move. 

If they knew the world was ending, why wait for it all to come crumbling down? 

Why not go out on your own terms?

Wilbur flickered and Niki struggled to breathe.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

This was how the Dream SMP died. 

Not with a bang but a whisper. 

  
  
  
  


**[WilburSoot faded]**

**[Nihachu drowned]**


End file.
